Imhalal.com is being touted as the Google of the Muslim world — and the first ‘halal’ search engine. Raziqueh Hussain investigates
Logging onto the Internet used to be a risky business for Kahkashan Iqbal. The college lecturer was well aware that the worldwide web was a great tool for knowledge, but she also knew that the unsuspecting surfer could be taken to some unsavoury places at the click of a mouse.
She worried that she, as well as her students, and even her mother, could be exposed to explicit materials sent flashing across her screen by unchecked web browsers.
That was until she discovered Imhalal.com. The browser touted as the world’s first Muslim-friendly search engine. It works to filter out content that is deemed to be haram, or prohibitited by Islam, and direct web users to halal content, pages and sites which are in keeping with Islam’s teachings.
Imhalal.com was launched during the month of Ramadan this year, after eight months of intensive research development by the AZS media group in The Netherlands.
“Muslims have become very active on the Internet,” explains Reza Sardeha, the search engine’s 20-year-old founder.
“The lack of tools for Muslims to be able to continue their online activities responsibly has inspired ImHalal.com to enter the search engine market. Using ImHalal.com helps you explore the Internet in a safe environment.”
Sardeha, who has Iranian and Kuwaiti roots but is based in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, got the idea after friends complained that the more popular Google and Yahoo search engines were flagging up offensive and inappropriate stuff. “We developed this idea after research revealed that in some Muslim households people avoided using the Internet because they didn’t want to bump into unsuitable content,” he says.
His search engine is fast gaining popularity in the Muslim circles around the world, and has won over many fans, Iqbal among them.
Iqbal, who teaches in Karachi, Pakistan, says, “It’s really great, especially because it is an effort by fellow Muslims. It has made the Internet a safe realm.
“I hope that Muslims will be adding material here which would be beneficial and accurate for the whole of the Islamic world.”
Her feelings are echoed across the globe in the US by Masooma Beatty. “The new engine is great,” says the math teacher from Colorado. “It seems to be a functional search engine, and I like the page previews. I think for people with children this is one of many options to help filter the Internet. Of course, it is not a totally unique product, except that it is marketed specifically to Muslims.”
In the UAE, where more than 60 per cent of the six million population are Muslims and most have access to the Internet, the new search engine gives many people exactly what they have been looking for. “My parents will not worry too much about what will pop up when I’m searching the web for homework related materials,” says Syeda Fatima, a 14-year-old student from Dubai. “It complies with the moral and religious sensitivities of Muslims.”
For Shehzeen Abbas, a youngster from Dubai, Imhalal.com makes her feel like a better Muslim, spiritually. “This step that has been taken shall, Inshallah, have a positive effect on all believers,” she says.
ImHalal.com uses a three-tiered ranking system to filter out offending websites. If a site is ‘level one haram’ or ‘level two haram,’ a user can still click through. Level three sites simply don’t show up on the browser.
Words and phrases that may have sexual connotations, refer to alcohol, drugs, or related to certain ‘disputable’ public figures are flagged up to the user. For instance, a search for ‘red wine’ will be flagged.
“We make use of a two-layer filter system which first analyses the content that is fetched by the search engine and everything which is flagged to be haram will be filtered out,“ says Sardeha.
“If the keyword is flagged by us as being ‘dangerous’, the second filter will kick in which is a lot more aggressive than the first. When the second filter kicks in, you will see the warning system pop up,” adds Sardeha.
He says that deciding what was halal and what haram content took place with the help of some Imams in Amsterdam.
According to him, the site blocks the haram content and also grades the search terms on the scale of one to three. A warning of one or two means that if the user thinks that the result will be clean, they can continue to search. A warning of three out of three means that the user can’t go ahead. So, a search for words likes ‘porn’ or ‘rape’ will give you a warning of three.
Searches for celebrities like Britney Spears or Pamela Anderson will also give a warning of one.
Mohaddisa Manji, a make-up artist based in Dubai, researched cosmetics that would be beneficial to her job and found the results interesting. “I was very happy to see a website created just for Muslims. I did search for many things because I make sure that the products I use are halal and earlier I couldn’t find out about this.”
For Iraqi student Yasmeen Marjan, Imhalal.com seems to take care of the additional costs accrued by installing filters in computers. “This way we can rest assured that no haram related results will show up and we can even be at ease with our children using it instead of worrying what sort of things will affect them on other search engines.”
Belgium-based Azra Jessa, 15, enjoys using this site because of its set-up. “The set-up is pretty cool and it’s got a pure and halal feel to it. It would be nice if more searches could be added to it, such as an Islamic video search.”
The purpose of bringing out this site, according to Sardeha is to “build a Muslim community.”
“Instead of seeing the positive things we are trying to do here, we actually only get negative media coverage stating that we’re censoring and discriminating,” he says.
“I always advise people to first inform themselves about the concept before voicing their opinions. I always say ‘Ignorance leads to chaos’.”
He adds that Imhalal.com does not actually censor anything besides pornography. “We filter certain websites spreading nonsense about Islam and explicit content. Some keywords like alcohol and pork will show a warning as well, but that’s purely for educational purposes.”
Like with everything else, there is also a flip side. Sameer A, a businessman from Dubai, cannot decide whether to be alarmed or not with the news of a halal search engine. “I tested out the site with a search for ‘wonder bra’ and it returned some results that appeared haram to my untrained eye,” he says, adding, “I’m a believer in a free market and freedom of choice, so I don’t say that having a halal search engine is inherently bad, but I’m concerned whether foreign websites are screened for reasons other than religious — thus depriving Muslims of diverse points of view.
“I still prefer Google because it is faster, quicker and gives me far more in-depth results.”
“I favour secularisation and this attempt to introduce religion and curb knowledge on the Internet may not work,” feels Imran Rizvi, a bank manager from Mumbai, India. “I know people who visit it just to have fun with the haram levels. The site has limitations because what is halal for a married couple may be haram for a teenager.
“Which authority has the power to determine what is halal and what is haram?”
Some users feel that the images search can be improved. The site is still in testing and is not producing many results fast. The speed could also be increased and enhancements made in terms of design, look and feel on the homepage, feel many users.
It could also incorporate some new features like FAQs, guidelines for safe search, traps for junk content, black-listed sites for Muslims, Islamic resources and so on.
Sardeha is factoring all these in, and says he will roll out several additional services like Islamic Widgets in the near future. “We’re planning to publish halal ads. These will be relevant ads generated according to the search term you have inquired about,” he reveals.
The feedback function gives him a good idea as to what is missing on the site. “We receive a lot of positive feedback. Our users can create discussions about whether we filter a certain word too much or not. We will consider every request,” he says.
Sardeha adds, “Our goal is to give Muslims more confidence on the Internet; we want ImHalal.com to be the homepage of all Muslim households.”
–Agencies